Philipp Dulichius is one of the German composers from around
1600 whose oeuvre has been almost completely neglected, despite
the fact that in 1896 a German musicologist devoted a study
to him. Whereas other composers took profit from the emergence
of the phenomenon of the amateur church choir in Germany, Dulichius
was overlooked. There are several reasons for this. One of these
is that almost all his motets were written on Latin texts which
made them less suitable for the Lutheran liturgy. Another is
that they are scored for five to eight voices whereas the church
choirs always consisted of four voices.

When he was rediscovered in the late 19th century he was nicknamed
"the Pomeranian Lassus", after Pommern, the region which today
is partly in Germany and partly in Poland. Its main city was
Stettin (now Szczecin) where Dulichius worked for many years
as Kantor. He was born in Chemnitz as son of a cloth
merchant who belonged to the middle class and several times
took the position of mayor. He matriculated at Leipzig University
in 1579. Held in high esteem in his time, his collections of
music were widely disseminated and individual pieces, in particular
those for double choir, included in anthologies.

Dulichius's oeuvre comprises only sacred compositions which
were printed in 12 collections between 1588 and 1630. The last
year before his death he planned a publication of 100 motets;
only 36 were printed. Until the end of his life he stuck to
the traditional polyphony of the 16th century, the prima
prattica. There is little text expression in the sense that
individual words are depicted. In this respect the nickname
"Pomeranian Lassus" is not really fitting, because in Lassus
we quite often find elements of text expression and especially
madrigalisms, which are largely absent from Dulichius. That
doesn't mean that there is no connection between text and music,
though. The dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees about paying
taxes to the Roman emperor (Magister, licetne censum)
is realised through reduction and augmentation of the number
of voices. The piece eloquently ends with just two voices singing
unisono, expressing the text that the Pharisees left Jesus and
"went away". The joyful character of Cantate Domino and
Gaudens gaudebo in Domino (I rejoice in the Lord) comes
across impressively, thanks to the lively rhythms. The disc
closes with Lobet und preiset den Herren which is largely
homophonic. Because of the rapid exchanges between the two choirs
and the exhilarating rhythms it is a quite exciting piece.

Now and then elements of a more immediate illustration of the
text are noticeable. Dixit Iesus discipulis tuis includes
an ascending line on "resurgere" (rise), whereas the word "mortuis"
(the dead) is set to a low note. In Ecce, quam bonum
an descending line is used to illustrate "quod descendit" (which
flows down). There is also a madrigalism on "tympano" in Cantate
Domino.

A number of pieces are for double choir. It has been suggested
that Dulichius had made a journey to Italy, but there is no
evidence of this. He must have been very well aware of the practice
of cori spezzati in Venice, though. He not only splits
an eight-part texture in two opposing groups, sometimes these
are of a different line-up, for instance a 'high' versus a 'low'
choir, for instance in Benedic, anima mea and in Lobet
und preiset den Herren. Notable is Deus noster refugium
(God is our refuge and strength) for its use of a cantus
firmus on the text "Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?"
- If God is for us, who can be against us? This is repeated
several times by a tenor, supported by a sackbut.

That brings us to the issue of performance practice. The programme
has been divided into six groups of three motets each, ordered
according to keys. Dulichius himself valued the use of the various
modi of his time. In each group one motet is in an authentic
mode and one in a plagal mode, with a composition in the modus
connexus at the end. The performance pays tribute to the
various ways in which sacred music was performed at the time.
In some motets the voices are doubled by instruments, in others
one or two parts are sung with the other parts played by strings
or wind. In a couple of motets for double choir the instruments
are divided: the strings play with the voices in the first choir,
the wind join the voices in the second choir. This differentiation
in performance practice guarantees a large amount of variety.
Not that the music of Dulichius really needs this: even with
an a cappella performance his motets would make a lasting
impression. Some of the Dulichius motets have been included
in anthologies, but this is the first disc which is entirely
devoted to his oeuvre, and that is well deserved. Apart from
the fact that comparing him with Lassus isn't quite correct,
he doesn't need it: Dulichius's music is very good in its own
right. Weser-Renaissance delivers immaculate and often exciting
performances. The solo contributions of various members of the
ensemble are outstanding. The instrumentalists make much impression
with their 'vocal' executions, and the balance between voices
and instruments is perfect.

The quality of music and interpretation means that this disc
fully deserves to be labelled Recording of the Month.

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